


Carry Me Home

by MO0NCHILDRN



Category: Carry On Series - Rainbow Rowell
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Author Is Sleep Deprived, Blood, Blood and Injury, Caretaking, Hurt/Comfort, No Beta We Die Like Simon's Will To Live, Penelope Bunce is a Good Friend, Probably ooc, The Mage (Simon Snow) is an Asshole, Unconsciousness, Watford Eighth Year
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-27
Updated: 2020-11-22
Packaged: 2021-03-08 18:08:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,561
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27220987
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MO0NCHILDRN/pseuds/MO0NCHILDRN
Summary: As unpredictable as he may be, the Mage has never let Simon miss an exam due to a mission. Baz and Penny are worried and decide to investigate.
Relationships: Penelope Bunce & Simon Snow, Penelope Bunce & Tyrannus Basilton "Baz" Pitch, Tyrannus Basilton "Baz" Pitch/Simon Snow
Comments: 9
Kudos: 58
Collections: Whumptober 2020





	1. Chapter 1

**Baz**

I haven’t seen Snow in days.

He’s not the type to suddenly disappear without leaving a trace (that is my speciality). Well, not unless the Mage takes him out of school for another of his ridiculous missions. Sometimes it really feels like he wants to get Snow killed before he even has the chance to face the Humdrum.

Still, when he doesn’t show up the day before our exams start, I know something’s wrong. Snow isn’t the type to ditch exams, even if he knows he’s going to fail. Bunce wouldn’t let him.

Even though roommate policies at Watford say you should be aware of your roommate’s whereabouts at all times, it’s different when your roommate is the Mage’s heir.

He doesn’t show up for the exam the following day. I ask Ms Possibelf whether she’s spoken to the Mage about Snow’s absence, but she only tells me not to worry about it. Which only makes me worry more. It means she either wasn’t given any information or that the Mage told her to keep it a secret.

I wait for Bunce after class. She must know something, she’s Snow’s best friend after all. When she spots me waiting outside the classroom, she wastes no time and storms up to me.

“I’ve had just about enough. Spill, Basilton. Where is Simon?” she says without batting an eye. I guess I’m not the only one who doesn’t know where Snow is.

“Good morning to you too,” I say, keeping up my composure. “That’s what I wanted to ask you. I haven’t seen him at all this week.” When I notice Bunce’s doubtful stare, I quickly added: “Do you really think I wouldn’t get in trouble if I prevented him from attending classes and exams?”

Finally, she seems to understand where I’m coming from, and sighs. “Well, then why would he disappear without a word?”

I look around in fear that some of the Mage’s men could be around; as much as I want to tell Bunce what I think, it’s not worth making the Mage my enemy. Though I don’t see anyone around, I decide to save it for when I’m sure no one can hear us.

“Meet me in our room in thirty minutes,” I tell her, for once being grateful for her mysterious ability to get to the Mummers House unnoticed.

When I get to our room, I habitually look to Snow’s half of the room, half-hoping he’d finally decided to show up. Of course he isn’t there. I throw my school bag on the floor and sit down on my bed. I still think it’s the Mage’s fault, but the Mage had never let Snow miss an exam, no matter how important Snow’s mission had been.

Bunce shows up 10 minutes later, not bothering to announce her presence with a knock on the door before bursting into the room.

“Sit down,” I tell her, noticing her shortness of breath (she must’ve sprinted up the stairs). When she does, I let her catch her breath before I start speaking.

“It has to be the Mage’s fault.”

“I’ve thought about that too, but the Mage has never let Simon miss an exam, regardless of how difficult his mission was.”

“Maybe there were complications,” I say.

Bunce grimaces. “Don’t even joke about that.” She doesn’t know that I don’t want Snow to get hurt either. She still sees me as Snow’s arch-enemy who could very well be responsible for his disappearance. Accepting my help just means that she doesn’t know how to look for him alone.

I decide to move on to explaining my plan. “Look, we don’t know whether he’s still at Watford or somewhere else, but we can start looking for clues on campus. Maybe the Mage sent him to the Catacombs. You know the Catacombs are unpredictable.”

She couldn’t deny that. Time and space worked a little differently in the Catacombs and if you weren’t used to it, you were prone to get lost.

“Fine. We’ll start looking at dusk and meet back here at midnight,” she decides and I silently thank her for being willing to cooperate. “If we find any clues, or if we find him, we’ll send a bird. If one of us doesn’t come back at midnight, there’s trouble and we have to help each other. Okay?”

“Okay,” I nod. I hate to admit it, but I’m starting to fear what we might discover.

After dusk, we leave the Mummers House and decide to split up. Bunce stays above the ground while I head for the Catacombs. The place alone doesn’t scare me – it’s the energy that does. And the fact that my mother is buried there doesn’t help much. But I know that if Snow got lost in here, it’s been way too long to be considered safe for him.

Once I’m down in the Catacombs, I take out my wand and cast **“Come out, come out, wherever you are!”** Nothing. I decide to rely on my vampire senses for now and start walking through the Catacombs, trying to ignore the squeaking of rats. Even though all corridors look the same, years of experience have taught me how to navigate through the Catacombs without ever getting lost. If Snow got lost in here, he must be going insane.

An hour in, I still haven’t found anything that would indicate Snow’s presence. I eventually reach my mother’s tomb. I didn’t want to come here tonight but I know that I have to search every nook and cranny if I want to find Snow.

I sit down next to the dust-covered tombstone. No one comes here except for me. I’ve still got to explore a vast part of the Catacombs, but there are a few hours left, so I figure a small break won’t hurt. I need to let my senses rest for a short while.

Sometimes, there’s a draft in the Catacombs. It was fairly windy before I went down here so it wasn’t surprising that a wave of cold air hit me from time to time. But when a blow of air comes at me from a corridor I hadn’t gone through yet, I jump up immediately.

The unmistakable scent of blood. Human blood, a few hours old at best.

I start running through the corridor. I try to use the **“Come out, come out, wherever you are!”** spell again, and for a faint moment it works, telling me to go straight ahead, but before it can give me more directions, I feel the connection breaking again. Someone must’ve blocked tracking spells.

But my vampire senses are already fixated on the smell of blood, telling me exactly where it’s coming from. It doesn’t take me long before I reach the beginning of a bloody trail. I stop in my tracks and inspect it carefully. I couldn’t identify it from afar, but the smell of blood is mixed with the scent of cinder and cinnamon.

Snow’s distinct scent.

I pick up speed again, knowing I must be getting close. Within a few minutes, I find him.

Snow’s lying on the ground in a fetal position, a small puddle of blood pooling next to his abdominal area. His eyes are closed and I experience a moment of terror before I hear his laboured breathing.

“Snow,” I breathe out and fall to my knees next to him. He’s never looked so helpless, so in pain. As his arch-enemy, I shouldn’t be feeling so distraught over this because I’m supposed to kill him anyway, yet I can’t help but feel bad for him. Regardless of how bad our relationship is, I would never let him bleed out to death. There are faster, more lethal ways of killing someone. Stabbing someone and letting them bleed out is pure torture, pure madness. I can’t let this be the end of Simon Snow.

“Snow, can you hear me?” I ask again when he doesn’t respond. This time I hear him hum some sort of agreement and a few seconds later, his eyes flutter open.

“Crowley, what happened?” I say, more to myself than to him, and take out my wand. Then I notice he’s opened his mouth to respond. “Save your strength, Snow. You can tell me later, but only if you survive,” I mutter a **“Get well soon!”** in hopes that it will stop the bleeding – it did help a little. Still, I rip a piece of cloth from my button-up and tie it around his abdomen just for that extra support. (I try to ignore the incisors itching from behind my gums. I didn’t realize how hungry I am but I’d rather burn myself at the stake than feed from a human, much less from Snow, who’s already lost so much blood.)

“Baz...” he whispers, ignoring my command not to speak. As thick-headed as ever, even on the brink of death.

“Shhh, it’s okay, I’ve got you,” I say as calmly as I can. The last thing I need to do is freak Snow out. I need to keep both him and myself calm. “Don’t worry, I won’t let you die here. I’ll get you back to our room.”

Before I take him into my arms, I remember the plan I made with Bunce. I cast **“A little bird told me!”** and wait about a minute until a bird appears.

“Tell Penelope Bunce ‘I found Snow in the Catacombs in critical condition. Bringing him back to our room.’” The bird nods its little head and disappears.

Snow’s faint heartbeat echoes in my head as if it were my own as I wrap my arms around his back and under his legs and pick him up bridal style. He’s not particularly heavy but I think that I’d have trouble carrying him all the way to our room if it weren’t for my vampire super-strength. He always runs hot. I know this because he never sleeps in a jumper, not even in winter. But he’s cold now, all the warmth and life slowly leaving him bit by bit. I start running back towards the entrance.

“Baz... I have to...” Snow tries to speak again, his words followed by a coughing fit.

“Save your strength,” I tell him as I look down and see he’s coughed up blood. It nearly makes me trip over my own legs, but I snap out of it and continue navigating through the corridors. I hope I can control myself until I get him to our room.

After what felt like an eternity I finally spot the big door separating us from the surface. But I’m worried that I might be too late. I can feel him fading in my arms, going out like a fire, his every breath shallower than the last.

“We’re nearly there,” I whisper to him as I run up the stairs to the door. I cross the campus at a record speed and run up to our room. Bunce is already waiting at the door, her eyes widening with terror when she sees us.

“Is he...”

“No,” I kick the door open and rush to Snow’s bed. I lay him down as gently as I can, wary of his injuries. “Undress him, we have to stop the bleeding,” I tell her before I run to the bathroom for towels.

I come back with as many towels as I could find. Bunce has already undressed Snow and has started spelling him with all the healing spells she knows. I kneel by the bed and start pressing down on the wound on Snow’s abdomen. Despite my best efforts, the spells I cast in the Catacombs weren’t enough to fully stop the bleeding. On top of all that, his whole body is covered with cuts and bruises. Whatever (or whoever) did this to him will get a taste of a Grimm-Pitch’s fury once Snow’s okay.

He will be okay. He has to be.

“Do you want to switch with me?” I ask Bunce a while later. She’s been spelling Snow non-stop for the past half an hour and I know all too well that even a good mage would feel worn out after using magic for that long.

“If you could, please,” she looks at me pleadingly. Luckily, she’s managed to stop the bleeding, but Snow is far from healed. His breathing has become more stable and both Bunce and I are positive that he’s no longer in a life-threatening condition, at the very least.

“Do you think he’s unconscious or asleep?” I ask her.

“Maybe a bit of both. But he’s lost a considerable amount of blood which worries me a bit,” she sighs.

“I think he’s still got enough to survive.” My senses aren’t as accurate as they would be if I fed, so I can only hope that my estimate was right.

After I close up all of the big cuts with magic, I fetch a disinfectant and a box of cotton buds from the bathroom and start cleaning the smaller cuts. I figure it’s best to let them heal the natural way instead of using the rest of my magic on them (it’s always best to have some magic to spare, just in case).

I know I’ve been pushing my luck all evening. Being around blood, Snow’s blood, without having fed is a dangerous gamble. So when I feel my fangs pop, I know I’ve got to go.

“Look after him,” I mumble towards Bunce, covering my mouth with my hand.

“Where are you going?”

Fuck it. She’d find out anyway. “Hunt.”

xxx

I drain a couple of the Mage’s message birds – I usually leave them alone, but not today. I’m furious with the Mage. With all due respect, fuck the Mage. How could he let that happen? Snow this, Snow that, but then he lets him bleed out in the Catacombs? How fucking noble of him.

I return to our room shortly after, heading straight for the bathroom. I take a quick shower to wash off all the blood (both from my feeding and from carrying Snow) and slip into my pyjamas before I return to our room.

“Any progress?” I ask Bunce as I sit on my bed. She’s sitting on a chair next to Snow’s bed, putting ointment on the bruises on Snow’s skin.

“When you were away, he mumbled a few unrecognizable words from his sleep, but that’s all,” Bunce said turning to me. “Look, I hate to do this, but we don’t know when he’ll wake up and I should probably get to my dorm.”

“It’s okay,” I nod understandingly. “I’ll take care of him.”

At last, she let her tired shoulders relax. “Thank you, for saving him.” Her eyes were genuine, grateful that I didn’t let her best friend die.

“I couldn’t have done it without you,” I offer the smallest smile I’m capable of.

She promises to stop by in the morning before she leaves, leaving me and Snow alone.

I don’t sleep much that night. I’d never thought about what life would be like without Snow, but for the first time, I let myself imagine it – a room all to myself. It might seem tempting at first, but when I really think about it, it isn’t any different from my room back home. It’s Snow’s mildly annoying presence that makes life at Watford interesting.

I wonder what he’s going to think when he wakes up.

**Simon**

I don’t open my eyes yet. I don’t know where I am, I just know I’m not lying on the cold stone floor anymore. I have a hard time remembering how I got here. Every single cell in my body feels sore and tired and on fire. I stifle a groan and hear shuffling from the other side of the room.

“Snow?” The voice sounds tired, a little surprised, and relieved. There aren’t many people who call me Snow.

I open my eyes slowly and look around. I’m back in my room. It’s still dark outside, which means that it’s either early in the morning or late in the evening. Then I notice Baz hovering above me. I flinch and see Baz’s expression grow darker – I’m not sure what emotions it conveys. Disgust? Anger? Worry?

“Calm down, Snow, I’m not going to kill you. I didn’t carry you all the way here just to get rid of you later on,” he says in a half-annoyed tone, switching on the lamp on my nightstand.

So that’s how I got here. I suddenly remember being half-conscious when Baz carried me through the Catacombs and I’m pretty sure I passed out before we even got to the surface.

“How are you feeling?” he asks me.

“Pretty shit,” I mutter. I don’t usually let Baz see my weak side, but I couldn’t care less anymore. He’s had the opportunity to kill me, yet he hasn’t. He’s seen me on the brink of death and he’s not giving me shit for it. He even took care of me. That’s admirable.

“Do you remember what happened before I found you?” he asks me. I make an attempt to sit up but wince in pain, which prompts Baz to help me up. Once I’m leaning against the headboard, he hands me a glass of water.

I take a few sips to gain a few extra seconds to think. It’s not that I don’t remember. Merlin, I wish I could forget what happened last night. But I don’t want to involve anyone else in what seems to be a battle I can’t win.

“I don’t know,” I say at last.

I expect Baz to interrogate me further, but he just smiles understandingly. I don’t think I’d ever seen him smile.

“All right. Maybe you’ll remember eventually. You should get some rest. You may not think your injuries were that bad, but it was hard work patching you up, you know.” He reaches out a hand to me and I hand him the empty glass.

“I only remember I bled a lot.” But I don’t remember whether that was an issue for Baz.

“You did, yeah,” he replies, visibly uncomfortable with the new topic. “You were lucky I found you in time.”

“I’m still amazed that you carried me here all the way from the Catacombs,” I say.

“You’d be even more amazed if you knew what I’m going to do to whoever hurt you,” he says, a spark of anger flashing in his eyes.

Should I tell him? I still don’t trust him completely, but I know he would be one of the few people believe me. My whole world crumbled because of what happened last night. I don’t want to involve anyone else into my own mess, but I feel pretty helpless.

“I...”

“It’s your decision whether you want to tell me or not,” he says, the anger suddenly leaving his voice. “But I want to help you if I can.”

Baz can help me. He can get me out of here.

“It was the Mage,” I whisper, almost inaudibly, but I know Baz wouldn’t miss it with his sharp senses.

“What?” he says in confusion. I know he’d always suspected the Mage of wrongdoings, but even he wouldn’t expect the Mage to hurt me.

“Don’t make me repeat myself,” I say through gritted teeth, averting my gaze. “I won’t say his name again.” I half-expect him to respond with a snarky remark, but for once he respects my wish and stays quiet. Maybe he really isn’t as insensitive as I thought him to be.

“Do you want to talk about it?” is what he says instead, his voice empathetic.

I shake my head. Maybe eventually, I’ll tell him. But I'm not ready yet.

“It’s okay. You don’t owe me anything,” I hear him say. He extends his hand and hovers it above mine and looks at me as if asking for permission; I respond by raising my hand and intertwining my fingers with his. Neither of us says a word, yet the silence doesn’t feel awkward. It’s filled with a multitude of emotions, compassion being one of them.

“I’ll kill him,” he says at last. “I’ll let him die a painful death.” When I don’t say anything to that, he squeezes my hand reassuringly. “I’m sorry if I enquired too much. Is there anything I can do for you at the moment?”

I look at him once again, hoping he won’t notice how glassy my eyes have become. “Please, get me out of here.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part 2 will hopefully be up soon, please leave a comment if you liked this so I know you want more!  
> Stay safe! <3


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The second chapter is here! To tell the truth, I hadn't expected for it to take so long, but online school has taken all will to live out of me so I either wrote a thousand words in one night or nothing at all in two weeks. Nevertheless, I hope you'll enjoy!

**Baz**

Crowley, Snow’s a mess. An actual mess.

I should’ve known the Mage was at fault. He’s one of the few people who could hurt him like this, both physically, and emotionally.

He’s shaking a little, and I wish I could do something to help him calm down, besides holding his hand like the idiot I am. But he’s looking at me now, expecting an answer. And as much as I’m aware of what he normally thinks of me, how could I let him go through this alone?

“Okay,” I nod, trying to sound as calm as possible. In reality, I am furious with the Mage, but I don’t think that’s something Snow needs to deal with right now. “I’ll get you out of here.”

“He must think my dead body is lying in the Catacombs,” Snow whispers.

“Then we don’t have to worry about him looking for you here,” I say. “You can’t escape without a plan, and besides, you still need to rest. We'll come up with something, I promise, but for now, it's best for you to stay here and recover."

Snow is quiet for a moment, probably thinking about my proposition. Then he nods. “Okay.”

“It’s still early, you should go back to sleep,” I withdraw my hand out of his grasp and help him lie down again. He has his arguing expression on but doesn’t protest when I move away from him and crawl back under my own covers that have already grown cold. His breath evens out within a couple of minutes but I stay awake till morning, thinking about a way to get Snow out of Watford without anyone noticing. It’s definitely a challenge, but I’ll be damned if I bow down to the Mage’s power, especially after what he’s done.

Before classes start, I manage to sneak a plate of scones into our room and lay them on the nightstand next to Snow’s bed. I figured not showing up to class would only raise suspicion, and that's the last thing we need right now. And besides, I need to talk to Bunce. I swing my school bag over my shoulder and stop at the door to steal a brief glance at Snow. He’s still asleep, but he definitely looks a lot better than last night (healthier, I mean. I could never be repulsed by his looks, no matter what situation he’s in, but he seriously looked like a ghost when he woke up last night and I’m glad he’s recovering well).

When I come to class, I can feel Bunce practically burning a hole through me with her eyes. I put my bag down and take my time preparing materials for the class before finally walking over to her.

She looks around to make sure no one’s paying attention to us before she speaks, keeping her voice down. “How is he?”

“Better. He woke up at night and I made him drink water. I got him some scones from the dining hall this morning.”

“Did he tell you anything?” she asks.

“He’ll tell you after classes,” I answer. I know it’s going to be hard to tell Bunce that it was the Mage and his men who did this to Snow, especially because Premal is one of them, but at least it’s going to be more credible coming from him. Plus, it’s not my place to talk about his experience.

She hums in agreement, understanding the circumstances, and I return to my desk. Although I try to focus during classes, I can’t help but worry about Snow. What if the Mage went to our room, just in case? No, that can’t have happened. He must think Snow is dead. Right?

After the last bell rings, I storm out of class immediately, heading straight for the dorm. I know I don’t have to remind Bunce to come by later, she’d come even if I didn’t want her to. I run up the stairs and burst into our room, relieved to see Snow still lying in his bed. My barging in has disrupted his peaceful sleep and he stirs with a few soft sounds before opening his eyes hesitantly.

“Sorry,” I whisper. “It’s just me.”

He hums in annoyance before sitting up slowly. His hair is a mess of golden curls, the blue fire in his eyes finally flaring back to life. The rose pink of his cheeks reminds me that he is, thankfully, very much alive.

“How are you feeling?” I ask him, crouching next to his bed so our eyes are level.

“Better. It still hurts to move, but I’m healing. I even went to the bathroom all by myself,” he says, letting out a small chuckle.

“That’s good,” I say. For someone who got betrayed by his role model and nearly died hours ago, he’s in surprisingly good spirits. I wonder how long it’s going to last.

Before I have the chance to say anything else, Bunce barges in.

“Simon! You’re awake!” she smiles at him from the front door.

“So much for being inconspicuous,” I comment and move to sit on my bed.

She blushes before walking over to Snow’s bed and sits down on the edge of it. “Baz told me you have something to say.”

Snow looks over at me, his good mood quickly fading. He must probably be thinking the same thing, whether telling Bunce everything is a good idea because of Premal.

“You don’t have to tell us everything,” I encourage him. “Just tell us what you're comfortable sharing with us.”

He takes a deep breath and glances at me once more before he starts to explain what had happened. I just sit there and listen to details Snow hadn’t had the courage to tell me earlier, hating the Mage more and more with every passing second.

**Simon**

“He told me how disappointed he was in me, that he’d wanted to create the greatest mage, and all he got was _me_. That I- That I’m good for nothing. He said that he regretted ever making me his heir. He made me return the Sword and told me that he never wants to see me again. A-and...” There are tears in my eyes. I ignore them.

“When I walked out of his office, his men were waiting for me...” I hear my voice break at the end and the tears become too much to bear. I look down in an attempt to hide my face, but I know that it’s too late, that they had already noticed. Baz and Penny, my nemesis and my best friend, were the last people I wanted to cry in front of. Yet here I am, sitting in front of them and trying to muffle my sobs with both my hands over my mouth.

I feel the mattress shift as Penny gently places a hand on my shoulder. “It’s okay, Simon. It must’ve been hard to tell us, thank you for sharing this with us.”

It takes me a while to calm down. My body is still trembling when I finally stop crying and I can feel a headache coming later, but I force myself to take deep breaths and focus on finishing the story. Baz disappears into the bathroom and comes back a few moments later, carrying a glass filled with cold water.

“It will help you avoid a headache,” he hands me the glass and I obediently drink half of it. Then I set it down on the nightstand and wipe my tears, looking up at Penny. I can tell she’s mad.

“I’m sorry,” I say to her.

“You have absolutely nothing to apologize for, Simon,” she says, only now realizing what her expression must’ve looked like to me. “I’m not mad at you. Merlin and Morgana, I never liked the Mage much, but to tell you this and let his men do this to y-“ and then it hits her and her expression changes. She holds in her breath and puts both her hands over her mouth before looking at me with fear. “Premal wasn’t involved, was he?” she asks in a small voice.

“I... I don’t know,” I admit. “I don’t remember their faces very well. But I think I’d remember seeing him there. Besides, he is usually on guard duty, isn’t he?”

That seems to calm her down a little bit. She still doesn’t look convinced, but she probably agrees with my reasoning. “I hope that was the case last night. I’ll seriously have to talk him into finding another job. I don’t want him to work for the Mage after this.” 

“Yeah, but don’t tell him to quit just yet,” Baz says. “We might need his help.”

“What could you possibly need him for?”

Baz looks at me, silently asking for permission. I nod, giving him the go-ahead.

“Snow wants to get out of Watford. Naturally, he can’t just walk out the front gate in broad daylight since he’s presumed dead. But it would be very convenient if Premal were the one guarding the gate the night Snow were to leave, don’t you think?”

Penny’s eyes dart from Baz to me and back to Baz. Then finally, she processes what Baz has said and looks at me with surprise. “You want to leave?”

“I don’t see any other option,” I sigh.

“Oh... me neither,” she agrees, although I can tell she's disappointed. I know that’s not how she imagined our last year at Watford. I was quite looking forward to all the things that were yet to come too. But right now, I can’t see myself surviving more than a week in here. I have to get out as soon as possible.

“Well then, could you look into his work schedule?” Baz asks. “We’ll plan the escape around that.”

“That shouldn’t be a problem. Have you come up with a plan?”

“I have... a few ideas,” Baz pauses, clearly considering what he’s about to say next. “I’ll investigate our possibilities further and we’ll meet again in the evening to come up with a solid plan.”

“Okay!” Penny stands up and shoots me an encouraging smile. “I guess I’ll go see my brother then. Is there anything else you need?”

“I think we’re good,” I say, giving her a brief, grateful smile. “Thanks, Penny.”

“You get some rest, Simon,” she tells me and turns to Baz. “Send me a bird if anything happens, okay?”

“The same goes for you,” he replies. It almost looks like they’ve grown closer over the last two days than during the entirety of our studies at Watford. The competitive spirit between them is still there, but it's more peaceful now. Then again, Baz doesn’t want to kill me anymore. Maybe he’s even worried about me.

When Penny leaves the room, he gets up from his bed and sits down next to me. “I do have a plan,” he says while looking at me, “but I’m not sure you’re going to like it.” He pulls a flip phone out of his pocket.

“How’d you get that?”

“Snuck it in for emergencies. I figured I’d call my aunt Fiona to come pick us up.”

“Us?” I look at him questioningly.

“Well, you don’t have anywhere to go and I don’t plan on staying at Watford either, not after what he's done. So I thought that you could live in our house for the time being.”

He is right about the fact that I have nowhere to go. But there must be more to it because there’s nothing to dislike about the offer. Living with Baz probably wouldn’t be much of a problem, given the fact that we haven’t killed each other in the past seven years and he’s finally being nice to me now.

“There’s a catch, isn’t there?” I look him in the eyes, and for possibly the first time ever he can’t face me.

“Once my family finds out what happened, and believe me, they will, they will want to use your testimony as proof of the Mage’s illegal actions. I understand that people asking you to talk about yesterday’s... incident may be uncomfortable for you, but I don’t think we’ll be able to keep the information from them forever.”

Hearing him say that makes my skin crawl. The thought of talking about what happened last night to someone other than Penny or Baz is terrifying. But what other option do I have?

“It’s not like I have a choice,” I mutter. “I’ll handle it.”

“I won’t mention it to Fiona when I call her,” Baz responds, probably in an attempt to comfort me, “we’ll deal with that once we’re out of here, okay?”

“Won’t the Mage get suspicious if you leave days after my death though?” I ask, making air quotes with my fingers as I say the word ‘death’.

“To tell the truth, I don’t know. He couldn’t care less about the attendance of children from the Old Families, but he might care about _me_ because I’m your roommate. We’ll just have to wait and see, I think.”

After that, I have nothing else to say. I figure it’s best to wait until Penny comes back before asking any more questions. After all, there’s no guarantee we’ll manage to escape. All we can do is hope for the best.

**Penelope**

After dinner, I make sure I’m not being followed before I head to the Mummers House. I run up the stairs and knock on the door. The door opens and Baz peeks out through the opening, a wand in his hand.

“Just in time,” he says and steps aside to let me in. “Come in, I’ll cast some protection spells before we start, just in case.”

I do as I’m told and enter the room, leaving the spells to Baz. He must be really worried for Simon’s safety if he’s taking so many precautions. On the other hand, his concerns are understandable. If the Mage found out about Simon, he’d probably wait until their escape attempt and corner them then. Therefore, if he’s extra careful now, he’ll have less to worry about when they actually get moving.

“Hi, Penny,” Simon greets me, sitting cross-legged on his bed. Had I not seen him last night, I probably wouldn’t believe him if he told me he nearly died last night. I've got to admit Baz and I have done an incredible job nursing him back to health.

“Hey there, Si. Look what I snuck in for you,” I sit on the chair next to his bed and take out a plastic food container full of scones.

His eyes light up as he takes the container from me and takes off the lid. “You’re amazing, Penny!”

“I know I am.” We spend the next couple of minutes in silence as Simon contently munches on his scones. In the midst of all this, at least he still loves scones the same.

“So, how is your brother doing?” Baz says, finally joining our conversation after closing the door behind him. As per usual, he sits down on his bed and looks at me expectantly.

Although I hate being the bearer of bad news, I tell them nonetheless. “I brought him some biscuits and asked him how he’s doing. He said that the Mage is giving him a paid week off starting tomorrow. Then he complained about today’s shift, saying that he clocks in at two in the morning and has to guard the gate overnight.”

“Damn,” Baz mutters. “We’ve got to do it tonight then.”

“I’m worried the Mage is doing this deliberately, to corner us,” I continue. After all, if I don’t voice my concerns now, I might regret it later. “In other words – I’m almost positive he knows Simon’s alive, and that we’re planning to use my brother’s position to our advantage.”

“Snow’s presence is so strong you can physically feel it if you concentrate on it,” Baz says matter-of-factly as if he were speaking from experience. “I was just hoping he wouldn’t pick up on it so soon. But the truth is, tonight is our only chance.”

“You said you’ve got a plan?” I turn to Baz. “I’d like to hear it.”

“I've just got a way of getting away from Watford once we’re past the gate,” he admits. "Snow and I have agreed that I'm going to leave with him. My aunt will pick us up and he'll live with me for the time being."

I can't pretend I'm not surprised to hear that Baz and Simon would willingly spend more time around each other, but I guess it's not a bad solution. After all, Simon's safety is practically guaranteed if he stays at Pitch manor.

"As for the escape route," Baz continues, “it’s hard to plan out one when we don’t know where the Mage’s men will be. Whenever they’re on high alert, there are patrols all over campus.”

“We’ll just have to wing it then,” Simon says with his mouth half-full. “We’ve done more dangerous things, right?”

“It’s going to be significantly more difficult without a plan, but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible, " I say. "However, we still need a way to get my brother to open the gate.”

“We don’t need _him_ to open the gate,” Baz says with a cunning smirk. “In fact, getting him to open the gate would cause him a lot of trouble if the Mage found out he helped us escape willingly. If he doesn’t notice us escaping, at least he isn’t going to be considered an accomplice.”

“What do you mean by ‘if he doesn’t notice us’?” I have a bad feeling about this.

“Let’s say, if you were to distract him, for example by going into the guard shack and asking him to go through the security footage because you’re worried your roommate has gone off-campus, we could slip through the gate unnoticed in the meantime. After all, Trixie rarely spends the night in your room, so she might as well have gone to the Wavering Wood.”

For someone who said he doesn’t have a plan at all, this isn’t actually such a bad idea. The only problem is that I’ll have to lie to my brother who knows me just as well as Simon does. He’s been able to see through most of my lies ever since we were kids. But I’ll have to try, for Simon’s sake.

“Okay,” I nod. “I’ll try to distract him for as long as I can, but one can only lie so much in front of their siblings.”

“Even if you mess up, there’s no way he would report you,” Simon reassures me. “He really cares about you, Penny. There’s no way he would rat you out.”

“Let’s just hope it works out,” I try to hide my nervousness with a smile.

“It has to. We’ve only got one shot at this,” Baz says, bending down to pull something from under the bed. “This is for emergencies,” he pulls out three red flares and gives one to me and Simon. “I hope we don’t have to use it, but better be safe than sorry.” Then he takes out another one, except this one is green. He looks up at me and holds it out demonstratively. “I’ll hold onto this one. If you see a green flare in the sky, it means we’ve made it out safely.”

“ _When_ I see a green flare,” I correct him, not allowing myself to think of the possibility of the plan failing. They will get out, no matter what.

“We’ll send it flying as soon as we’re safe,” Baz promises. “Which reminds me, I have to make a call home,” he takes the phone from his desk and stands up. “I’ll be in the bathroom,” he announces, briefly glancing at Simon, and then disappeared behind the bathroom door.

Simon starts fidgeting with his fingers. He probably wants to say something but can’t figure out how to say it. Oddly enough, I think I know what he wants to talk about. It’s probably the reason why Baz left the room to make the phone call.

This is our final conversation at Watford. I have to make sure I’ll hear from him again.

“So,” I start, “it looks like you’ll be staying at Baz’s for some time now, huh?”

“Yeah,” he nods. “You know I’ll miss you though, don’t you?”

“Of course I know that, Simon,” I force a smile despite feeling sad about him leaving. “But don’t you think you’re getting rid of me that easily. I’ve got Baz’s phone number so I’ll be annoying you as much as possible! He’s not the only one who knows how to sneak a phone in, you know.”

“As expected of you,” Simon stifles a laugh.

“And after I graduate, we’ll finally get a flat in London and move in together, like we’ve always wanted,” I continue.

“Definitely,” Simon nods, the corners of his mouth upturned. He extends his arms towards me and I let him pull me into a hug.

“Good luck,” I whisper into his shoulder.

“You too. I don’t want you to end up in trouble because of me.” His tone is playful, but I can tell he means it. Even when he’s in grave danger, he cares about other people first. Typical Simon.

I can’t help but laugh at that. “Being in trouble because of you is something I can handle.”

“Good news,” I hear from the bathroom door, making me pull away from Simon and turn around to look at Baz. “Fiona will be waiting for us near the gate at three o'clock in the morning. We’ll leave our room at quarter to three.”

“Then I should probably get going to get some rest,” I stand up. Before I make the motion to leave, I look at Baz. “You’ll take care of him for me, won’t you?”

“Of course. We’ll keep in touch.”

“Thank you,” I offer him a grateful smile and wave at Simon. “See you around, magickal boy.”

“Take care,” he reminds me.

“I will.” I know it will be hard without Simon here. But his safety comes first, and besides, I can handle one last year without him.

I’m at the doorstep when Baz starts talking. “You better become the best in class now that I won’t be around any longer,” He comments with a grin, “you wouldn’t like it if Dev or Niall beat you to it, would you?”

“Shut up, Pitch,” I respond in mock anger, knowing my cover’s blown the moment I fail to hold in a laugh.

“I love you too, Bunce. Platonically of course,” he smirks.

“Bye for now,” I give them one last parting wave before I rush down the stairs. Though I hate to admit it, I'm going to miss them both so much.

**Simon**

“Snow, wake up!”

I open my eyes to the dark room illuminated by the lamp on my nightstand. Baz had told me to go to sleep in the evening, saying I’d need the extra strength. I couldn’t argue about that. Although all of my injuries have healed well, I still feel exhausted.

“It’s almost time,” Baz says, standing next to my bed.

“Mhmm,” I sit up and stretch my arms out above my head before getting up. I notice that Baz hasn’t packed anything, his half of the room left in the original state. “You’re not taking anything with you?”

“I only need my wand and my phone,” Baz answers. “If we get you out of here, I’m sure I could go back to retrieve my belongings if I wanted to. Carrying a bag would only complicate things. What about you? Are you wearing your cross like I’d asked you to?”

To demonstrate, I pull the cross out from under my shirt. I put it on just before going to sleep, just in case I wouldn’t remember to take it with me after waking up.

“Good,” Baz hums in approval. “Well then, if you’ve got your wand on you, we can go. Stay behind me and let me do the spellwork. If needed, focus on defence spells.”

With that, he opens the front door and we start walking down the stairs in silence. Once we’re out of the Mummers House, we start running towards the White Chapel, with the plan to take a break there before running for the gate. That’s when we encounter the first obstacle – a patrol of two. Just when the light from their lanterns is about to hit us, Baz grabs my hand and shoves me behind a bush wall, placing his other hand over my mouth to prevent me from screaming.

“That was close,” he whispers when the patrol passes us, letting go of me. “Looks like they’ve upped the security.”

“And we haven’t even reached the courtyard yet,” I sigh.

“Hey, it’s okay. We can do this,” he reassures me, well-aware of how it usually ends when I’m bummed out about something.

“Yeah,” I try to shake the doubtful thought out of my head and convince myself that it will go well, just like Baz says.

“We should get moving before the patrol comes back,” he says, standing up and offering me a hand. When I reluctantly take it, he pulls me up and takes a careful look around us before we start running to the White Chapel.

Before we even get there, I know something’s wrong. My bad feeling is quickly confirmed when Baz stops and looks at me with a finger over his mouth. (There’s too much light in here for the middle of the night.)

Instead of going inside, we sneak up to its nearest wall and follow it towards the entrance. It’s not long before we hear voices coming from inside.

“-we’re sure he’s not in the Catacombs!” a man says.

“Oh, shit,” Baz curses under his breath and turns around to face me. But before he can manage to say anything, my heart stops as I hear the voice of another man – the one who’s responsible for all this.

“For Merlin’s sake! None of this would’ve happened if you’d made sure he was dead.” The Mage pauses to regain his composure, and although I can’t see his face, I can imagine him rubbing his temples in annoyance. “Search the whole campus. He’s still on the school grounds, I’m positive.”

“Y-yes, sir!”

I zone out for the rest of their conversation. When Baz lays a hand on my shoulder in an attempt to ground me, I don’t know how much time has passed.

“Calm down,” he says quietly, “they’ve already left.” Then he whips out his wand and casts **“These aren’t the droids you’re looking for”** on us.

“Tha-thanks,” I manage to say.

“I’ll go take a look around, you stay here. I’ll be right back,” he says before moving closer to the front of the building, presumably to get a look at the courtyard. As promised, he returns a few minutes later and explains the situation to me. “There are no patrols around the White Chapel at the moment, but I assume there’s a patrol by the entrance to the Catacombs. They illuminated the courtyard with strong lights, so we’ll have no choice but to run through it.”

“What about going back to Mummers House and following the ramparts until we get to the gate?” I offer, but Baz just shakes his head.

“They have patrols on the ramparts as well. And besides,” he points towards the Mummers House, “most of the patrols are concentrated around the Mummers House. It would be too risky to go back now.”

I guess we should’ve expected this, the Mage isn’t that stupid after all. Still, I hoped we would escape without any problems.

“We’ll have to do it,” I say hesitantly. “But... could you spell me a sword?”

Though I can’t see his expression in the dark, I can picture Baz rolling his eyes before he casts **“Steel yourself”** on me. A sheathed sword appears at my hip, where the Sword of Mages used to be. I try not to think about it too much as I unsheathe the sword and swing it a few times experimentally (after making sure Baz is out of my range).

“Thanks,” I say, feeling a little better than minutes ago. I hate relying on my magic but if there’s something I can always count on, it’s my swordsmanship skills. Even if it’s not the Sword, I’m pretty confident that it will be much easier to defend myself with a sword in hand.

“We’ll run up to the gate and I’ll use ‘Open Sesame’ to get it open,” Baz tells me. “If anything goes wrong, don’t care about me, just run, understood?”

“But-“

“Snow,” he’s very adamant about it. “If I get caught, I still have ways of defending myself besides using my wand. Do you?”

Yes, I hate to admit that he’s right. But without a sword, I am pretty much useless, even more now that I still feel the effects of last night’s injuries.

“Then it’s settled,” he says decidedly. “Come on, we have to get moving now.”

Taking a deep breath, I observe the path leading to the gate. In a few minutes, we can be out of this school forever. Or we can be dead. But I can’t think about that now. Instead, I look over my shoulder at Baz who gives me a reassuring nod. And as I set off running towards the gate, I try not to think much of it and focus on searching for signs of patrols nearby.

It all goes according to plan until we enter the illuminated part of the courtyard. That’s when I hear the sound of a horn blowing from the ramparts. Somewhere close to the guard shack, a red flare goes off. Penny's flare.

“Shit!” I hear Baz say before he starts casting spells left and right. I keep on running, praying that we’ll be able to get through the gate before the Mage’s men get to us, even without Penny's help.

We’re about a hundred feet away from the gate when someone blocks it with their body, making us stop dead in our tracks. It’s none other than the Mage himself, grinning devilishly. 

“So we meet again, Simon,” he says in a composed manner, spreading his arms out theatrically. “How does it feel to rise from the dead?”

Before I can say anything, Baz shields me from him with his own body and points his wand at him. “He has nothing to say to you. Let us through and we won’t hurt anyone.”

The Mage cackled. “So I see you’ve decided to take Simon’s side this time, Mr Pitch. Well, I’ve always thought that the Crucible must’ve made a terrible mistake placing Simon in a room with a _monster_ like you, but now it’s all coming together. You two make a wonderful pair.”

That’s the last straw. After everything he’s done, his insults towards me are the least of my worries. But he won’t insult Baz like that.

“The only monster here is you,” I say, gripping the hilt of my sword. Before I can unsheathe it, Baz grabs my hand and stops me.

“Don’t,” he says gently and I can feel him demanding eye contact from me. “It’s pointless fighting him head-on, you know that.”

I don’t look up to meet his eyes. Instead, I let my gaze fall to the ground. “But it’s the only way...”

“No, it’s not,” he takes both my hands in his, and I finally give in and look at him. Weirdly enough, he looks completely calm, content even.

“Aww, where’s your fighting spirit? Come on, don’t give up just yet!” The Mage yells at us, the Sword of Mages appearing in his hand. “You should at least encourage him to go down with a fight, Mr Pitch!”

**Baz**

We need a new plan, right now.

I look around. Although the patrols have surrounded us all around, they’re clearly holding back, probably because they don’t want to interfere with whatever the Mage wants to do to us. He’s obviously thinking he’s got the upper hand. Wonderful, that’s just what I need.

“Do you trust me?” I ask Snow. I figured it’s good to ask this before I attempt to execute what might be one of the craziest plans I’ve ever had. Desperate times call for desperate measures, as they say.

“Of course, but-“

“Then hold on tight,” I say and wrap an arm around him. Mustering up all the strength I’ve got left, I point my wand to the sky. **“On love’s light wings!”**

In the next moment, Snow and I are flying over the ramparts, leaving everyone, including the Mage, stunned. I’ve never tried this spell before so I have no idea how it works, but I do my best to control the flight as much as I can.

Halfway over the moat, we start losing altitude. I know it’s because my magic is wearing thin but I keep fighting it, refusing to let us fall. 

Suddenly, I feel Snow’s weight shifting. “I want to try something,” he says quietly. I can’t see his face, but I feel his grip on me tighten. In the next moment, something I’ve never experienced before happens – as if he zapped me with electricity, a new wave of strength wells up inside of me. We instantly fly up at least ten feet and I feel as though I hadn’t used _any_ of my magic, maybe even stronger.

As we start descending, my heart nearly skips a beat when I see a familiar object: Fiona’s ’67 MG. I make us land next to it and don’t let go of Snow’s hand as I swing the door of the backseat open. In the distance, I can hear the sound of the gate opening.

Remembering our promise to Bunce, I quickly take out the green flare and ignite it, sending it flying up to the sky. Hopefully, Bunce didn't get in trouble. There's no guarantee she'll see this, but it's the least I can do.

“Basilton!” I hear Fiona’s voice as I shove Snow inside the car before getting in myself.

“Floor it!” I tell her, anxiously glancing towards the gate through the rear windshield. Thankfully, those of the Mage’s men who made it through the gate seem to have given up when they see us getting away in a car. Still, I won’t be calm until we reach the manor.

“Hello to you too,” Fiona says, tiredness mixed with annoyance evident in her tone. (Who would blame her, it’s three in the fucking morning.)

“Sorry about that. Our plan failed so we had to improvise and I was more than a little on edge.”

“Yeah, I could see that,” she says, making eye contact with me in the rear-view mirror as if she were saying ‘we’ll talk about it later’. Then her eyes settle on Snow. “Anyways, it’s not every day that I get to have Simon Snow in my car.”

“Y-yeah,” Snow shrugs, looking at me with uncertainty. "Thank you so much for going through the trouble of coming here in the middle of the night."

“No worries,” Fiona chuckles. “Baz was very adamant about me coming to get you, although I don't quite understand why you had to leave Watford at such an ungodly hour."

Maybe he gave me more energy than he’d intended to, but I can see he’s practically forcing his eyes to stay open.

“I'll explain everything later," I promise before leaning in closer to Snow. "How did you do _that_?” I whisper.

"What?"

"When we were about to fall into the moat, you... did you give me some of your magic?" I’d never heard about someone using someone else’s magic before, maybe except for the Humdrum, but that’s different. I used Snow’s magic because _Snow_ gave it to me, and I didn’t just absorb it, I used it.

“I just imagined my magic flowing into you,” he smiles tiredly. “It kind of felt like going off, except I was in control this time. I’m glad it worked out.”

 _I’m_ glad he doesn’t question the spell I used to make us fly – he probably doesn’t even know that a person has to be stupidly in love for the spell to work.

“We can talk about it later. If you’re tired, you can get some rest. I’ll wake you up when we get home.”

“Thanks,” he says, leaning his head against the window before falling asleep a few minutes later. The next few months are going to be hard for the both of us, especially for Snow, but at least I know that he’s safe, that as long as I’m by his side, no one can hurt him again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I originally wanted this to be a two-chapter fic, but in the end, I decided to make it a bit longer. Hopefully, the next chapter will actually be the last one hahah. Thanks for reading and take care! <3


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